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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2014 10:22:37 GMT -5
He absolutely HATED turkey.He doesn't like turkey? I thought that you had fed him chicken and turkey in the beginning of the switch and he was okay with it. What cuts of turkey, was it fillets or ground turkey? I'd like to get him to eat fishMine love cod. We first tried the freeze dried cod, and then fresh cod. Roamy loves raw shrimp, no one else does. I did buy some smelt, which Sherry suggested. We haven't tried it yet. Are cornish games hens different from chicken?Technically, they are small chickens. A different breed, so to speak. Like a terrier is different than a poodle. For our purposes, we count a CGH as a different protein. Cornish game hens are very popular with mine and a good starter bone. One CGH makes two meals for my four. also how are we going to introduce bonesIntroducing bones can be scarey for a ferrent. It certainly was for me. I just couldn't understand how they would ever eat bone. I kind of had a visual in my head of Roamy trying to eat a giant turkey leg bone. Bones are the Non Weight Bearing bones of an animal the size of a chicken or smaller. So, like you said; cornish game hen, Quail, chicken wings, turkey Wings, duck wings, mice, guinea pig and rabbits. Pork riblets or buttons are fine, also. What you will do is smash them. Here is a picture of a Quail, whole and then smashed. This was the first Quail, that mine ate. This was after it had been smashed with a cleaver: So, after you have smashed it, then it's pretty easy for Severus to consume. I had no trouble with Roamy, Wynstan or Juliet with bones. It was my baby Mika, who refused to eat bones. She was fed raw as a baby and chewed on bones while she was little. Then she grew up a little and refused any bones. She eats them fine now, but she's a spoiled little Princess and it took some coaxing. Eating bones will be like eating cubes. We wil make them small at first and then increase them in size. Eventually, you will be able to give Sev a chicken wing and (I still do this) just hit it once lengthwise and twice width wise and he will be fine with it. The happy sound of bones crunching makes me so Happy! Just for practice, please build a menu for this week. Start it on Tuesday, and write out, what you're planning on doing with the pork and heart meal, and then back to the chicken. It's good practice and I can refer to it, during the week. I hope your week goes well. We're expecting alot of rain and then more rain. The county fair is here and we really wanted to go, so weather permitting, that's our big plans for this week.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2014 15:21:39 GMT -5
No he's only ever tried the turkey the one time and he flipped. Didn't even want me touching him for the rest of the day after I tried hand feeding him that. And it was a half turkey breast, skin in it. I will try to introduce it again, but I feel it might be a bit better to go with a protein he doesn't despise. And he's only tried pork the one time.
So I guess Sevvy won't be starting on any bones until I can get him off chicken soup, lol. Picky boy that he is. Last night and this morning he got a heaping teaspoon of chicken soup to with his heaping tablespoon of cubes. Then I thinking of giving him pork soup over chicken cubes (to encourage eating his cubes and to get him used to the idea of pork). Anyway here's the menu plan.
Sunday: Chicken soup and cubes for breakfast, 3 leftover cubes. Chicken soup and cubes for dinner, no leftovers. Monday: Chicken soup and cubes for breakfast, most cubes and a little soup left over (probably due to late/big dinner). Chicken cubes with pork soup for dinner. Tuesday: Heart soup and heart slices for breakfast. Chicken cubes with pork soup for dinner. Wednesday: Chicken cubes with pork soup for breakfast. Chicken cubes with pork soup for dinner/Pork cubes with soup, depending on how much he likes pork. Thursday: Chicken soup and cubes for breakfast. Chicken soup and cubes for dinner. Friday: Chicken soup and cubes for breakfast. Chicken soup and cubes for dinner. Saturday: Chicken soup and cubes for breakfast. Hearts, liver, and kidney for dinner.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2014 18:52:38 GMT -5
I think Sevvy has a sense of humor and is messing with us. (giggle) Okay, chicken it is. What we can do, is try to fool him. We know that he's good with chicken cubes and he likes soup. So, try making the chicken soup puree with a piece or two of pork in the soup. Not much, just enough to slightly sneak it in. Pour the chicken/pork soup over the chicken cubes. The next day add three pieces of pork to the soup, and pour it over the cubes. We will slightly increase the amount of pork in the soup, until it is all pork soup. Keep slightly increasing the sizes of the chicken cubes. They don't need to get too big, we just want to move him to chunks as opposed to little cubes. Are you using ground pork or slices from chops? Tomorrow is heart soup and heart slices. He seems to be fine with the chicken heart, right? Give Sevvy a big hug from me and tell him that even if he is being stubborn, he's a good boy.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2014 19:28:39 GMT -5
He's a butt! About everything! That pork in the chicken soup idea was my first thought, but then I was like, 'No, Poncesmom won't go for that, need to do something bolder.' Great minds think alike it seems. It's pork chops with the fat cut off the cubes, and tossed into the soup. I always try to leave some or all of the fat cause I remember they need like 10% of fat in their diet. Though the last week and a half has been lean chicken, no skin or really any fat.... Oops I need to keep on top of that. And he seemed iffy about the hearts last time. Like he remembered the taste, but it was just hearts in strips and Severus Snape does not do strips, lol. However the liver and heart soup and chunks was a huge success. Gone in 60 seconds, lol.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2014 19:43:12 GMT -5
Hearts can be a big battle, so yeah for Severus! About how much did he eat? We won't do Bold with Severus, we'll do Sneaky. For ferrets, Fat equals Energy. So use fatty cuts, leave the fat and skin on. Happily, fatty cuts are less expensive. Just like us, the little guys seem to have food preferences. Severus doesn't like strips, some little guys like their food warm, some like a little bit of oil, some like to be hand fed, some like privacy. Sometimes, it's just about finding what tickles their fancy and everything changes and they suddenly they start eating everything and eating well. It's been a long busy day (well, busy for our quiet lifestyle). I'm heading off to get in bed and read for awhile. I'll check in again in the morning. :wave2:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 2:58:22 GMT -5
Well he ate every drop of soup. At a 40% pork to 60% chicken mix. The cubes are still there for now (he's to whacked out right now to notice food. )
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 17:43:24 GMT -5
Very Good. If he eats every drop, try another spoon or two. Usually, they will leave a little in the bowl, when they are full.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 20:12:21 GMT -5
Well he ended up eating every bit of his dinner last night, I made him soup for breakfast this time is was 60% pork with 40% chicken. All gone. He nibbled on a few of the cubes, but then ignored them, per usual. Hearts in heart soup is for dinner. I was hoping to get some work done tonight on upgrading his cage, but for some reason I feel exhausted. Like bone tired. I slept almost nine hours and I really wanted to just stay in bed, but I forced myself up. I'm contemplating a nap. Maybe if I get up and move around though it will help me wake up and I can work on upgrading his cage life. Did I tell you I picked up a giant stuffed lion? Well my hopes is to hollow it out and make something similar to this: www.instructables.com/id/Gobbling-Gorilla-Bed/#step0 I'm excited to work on this project.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 11:17:38 GMT -5
That Gorilla bed is so cool. I can't wait to see what you with the Lion. You'll have to post pictures and let everyone see it. Make the cubes a little smaller. Mince them into half the size they are now. Try and hand feed a few tiny pieces, drag them thru the soup and then see if Sevvy will let you put one in his mouth. Some days are just so exhausting. Could it be stress? Hopefully, you didn't pick up a little bug. A good nap can work wonders, I hope you had the chance to take one.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 16:44:13 GMT -5
He always ends up eating nearly everything in his bowl, just not right away. Usually he'll eat the rest about five hours after I set out the meal. Heart dinner was a big hit and this morning's breakfast was 80% pork and 20% chicken over chicken chunks. He loves pork. I'm sure he'll snub it once it's offered by itself because he's a brat, but yeah he likes it, lol.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 16:47:00 GMT -5
Very good, so we have Pork and Chicken and Hearts on his list of approved foods. (dance)
Do you ever use any fish oil or olive oil? Mine like a little drizzle of Olive oil, sometimes. You can't give alot of it, but it can tempt them sometimes.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 16:37:00 GMT -5
Uh no, I've never tried oil. I'd like to get some fish oil in him, I think he'd approve.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 19:59:42 GMT -5
Alot of Ferrents use fish oil as a treat or to clip nails, get their attention and all kinds of things. Sherry advises only 1/2 tsp every three days. I bought the Wild Grizzly Salmon Oil and mine didn't care for it. I'm going to look for a milder flavor. Its great for Omega 3's. Its been a super long day and I'll check in again in the morning. We have new baby girl and I need to go check on her. Hugs to Severus.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 21:35:01 GMT -5
I'll have to look for it at this health food store that I know of, hopefully they'll have a couple of different oils for me to choose from.
He's been loving pork soup, so starting Saturday I'll give him a full meal of it, since I know he loves his organs (though he's still choosy about the organ chunks) and see what he thinks of pork cubes. I'm excited. I'm hoping he's gonna love it. And he sends his love you and the new baby girl! What is her name?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2014 13:48:59 GMT -5
Maybe a human grade fish oil will be milder in flavor than the Wild Grizzly Salmon oil, that I bought. I also remember someone else ( msav) asking about that brand, because his didn't like it either. I'll ask on the Mentor board. How big are the cubes now? I think we're making some progress and the key with Severus seems to be letting him have the same food for several days in a row. My new little girl was named Cheesecake, by her previous ferrent. I thought she should have a new name to go with her new life. I like Miette, french for sweet little pastry. Paul doesn't like it and she isn't really a Miette. Paul likes any form of Kassie (Kaase is German for Cheese). So, I think she will be Caci which is Gaelic for brave and there is an Italian cheese name Caciotta. So, Caci/cassie/ some form of Cassie.
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